Graceful whisper
Posted: February 7, 2018 Filed under: graceful whisper | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains, Tsukineko Memento inks 14 Comments
This branch has been waiting patiently for some ink so I went rather non-traditional and pulled out some purples to create this card. I splattered a few panels of hot pressed watercolour paper with masking fluid yesterday so I would have them on hand for future projects. The effect is subtle on this one but you can see little white dots in the sky and foliage if you look closely.
I used a couple of teardrop memento inks and a marker to ink the stamp. With the teardrops it is possible to apply ink somewhat strategically. I started with the lighter grape jelly ink and dabbed it here and there over the stamp. My panel was in my stamping platform so I was able to do grape jelly ink first, then add some dabs of the darker elderberry ink second. I went back and forth with the two inks and occasionally a spritz of water until I was happy with the image. I coloured the stems with a memento tuxedo black marker, stamped to complete the image then moved the panel to stamp a second branch the same way.
Once all the stamping dried I used mustard seed and salty ocean distress stain to paint the sky. I kept it fairly diluted and dabbed with a paper towel if I had too much water or stain. To finish it off I stamped the sentiment from the PB ‘sentiment collection’ set in versafine onyx black ink then matted the panel with black and attached it to a white card base.
Supplies
Stamps: graceful whisper, sentiment collection
Inks: grape jelly, elderberry, tuxedo black marker
Stains: salty ocean, mustard seed
Paper: hot pressed watercolour, neenah epic black, neenah solar white
Also: masking fluid
Crisp & cold
Posted: January 6, 2018 Filed under: dressed in snow | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains, Tsukineko Memento inks 6 Comments
This seems an appropriate card to post right now while the weather is oh. so. cold. For this one I used a stamp postioner to stamp one colour at a time with the ‘dressed in snow’ scenic stamp. I used memento markers to ink the evergreens in northern pine, the deciduous in tuxedo black and the fence in rich cocoa inks. After I had stamped all the elements I added a mask for the moon and then painted a tumbled glass distress stain sky.
I spritzed the trees on the left very lightly to blend the colour and painted some tiny background trees on the horizon. Winter is very beautiful where I live but currently it is also rather bleak. Please forgive me the rather brief description; I created this one a while ago and the details are a little sketchy in my memory.
Supplies
Stamps: dressed in snow
Memento markers: northern pine, tuxedo black, rich cocoa
Distress stain: tumbled glass
Paper: hot pressed watercolour, olive green cardstock
Also: stamp positioner, frisket film
A blessed gift
Posted: January 2, 2018 Filed under: Berry speckled | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks, Ranger Distress stains, WOW embossing powders 3 Comments
On the ninth day of Christmas I am returning to the blog. I’ve been enjoying some time with family and friends, relaxing, reading but I have not been creating cards! This panel started out as a practice for another project but I ended up turning it into a card anyway. I began with a panel of hot pressed watercolour paper with masking fluid splattered over it. I used a stamp positioner to stamp the different coloured elements of the berry branch in distress inks then embossed over the image with embossing powder. Unfortunately when you put embossing powder over masking fluid it sticks so the panel became very textured and very speckled with ‘snow’. I painted weathered wood distress stain over the background added a sentiment but was not able to remove much of the masking fluid as I had ‘glued’ it there with heat embossing!
As this was a practice panel I changed my order of operations when I made the next card, stamping and embossing first then splattering masking fluid second. I hope your 2018 is off to a great start. I have been busy keeping up with Dressember details which I will post more about later but I’ll just add a quick thank you here to all who have donated to this worthy cause; you have really encouraged me.
Supplies
Stamps: berry speckled, peace & love
Inks: versamark, crimson red versamark, weathered wood distress stain
Distress Markers: festive berries, gathered twig, barn door, forest moss
Paper: Neenah solar white cardstock, hot pressed watercolour paper, neenah red pepper cardstock
Also: stamping platform, masking fluid, WOW clear gloss superfine embossing powder
Winter Thank you
Posted: December 20, 2017 Filed under: Nature's Friend, snowy village, Stamped Landscapes, Woodland Beauty | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks, Ranger Distress stains 5 Comments
I’m a guest over at the Foiled Fox blog today; you know that is one of my favourite places to share my cards. With less than a week until Christmas I have switched to making thank you cards. This one combines several Penny Black stamps, one from this year and others from Christmasses past. All the snow falling is the effect created when painting over splattered masking fluid. After the painting has dried I rub off the masking to reveal little white dots – snow! The black stamping is done with pigment inks to preserve the sharp defined edges of the trees and deer. The soft tree shapes in the background are stamped in distress inks to enable blending and bleeding into the watercolour sky.
The whole process is described in detail on the Foiled Fox blog and supplies are listed below.
Supplies
Stamps: snowy village, nature’s friends, woodland beauty, happy snippets
Inks: versafine onyx black, evergreen bough distress ink
Distress Stains: salty ocean, faded jeans, evergreen bough
Hot pressed watercolor paper
Also: masking fluid, stamping platform
Berry bramble
Posted: December 15, 2017 Filed under: Berry bramble | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks, Ranger Distress stains, WOW embossing powders 12 Comments
Sometimes it is fun to rediscover and incorporate some techniques you haven’t used for a while. I love to splatter masking fluid over watercolour paper to create the look of falling snow but sometimes I don’t think about it in advance or just don’t want to wait long enough for the masking fluid to dry. Salt to the rescue! While salt does not create bright white dots it does make lighter areas and pretty patterns that look a little like snow or fairy lights.
You can see some pale pink and brown pattern in the background of the scene; to create this I wet the whole panel, inked the stamp with festive berries and ground espresso distress markers and stamped it onto the damp paper. I dabbed at the inky impression immediately with a paper towel so I would have soft shapes that would not overpower the foreground image.After drying the panel completely I put it in my stamping platform for all the berry work. First I inked and stamped the whole stamp with festive berries distress ink.
Next I switched to markers and added shading to the berries and darker colours to the twigs and calyx. (yes, of course I had to look that up!) I used barn door and aged mahogany to add depth and shadow to the berries. I used chipped sapphire and ground espresso to darken the stems and calyx. After I had added colour I used a small paint brush and water to blend the stamped colour. Once the panel dried I embossed the berries with versamark and clear powder which gave them a frosty, shiny look. The embossing made them waterproof so I was able to add weathered wood stain to the panel without diluting the berries. I kept the stain dark on the left and diluted it with water on the right then sprinkled salt to created the speckled effect. I decided not to add a sentiment yet as I think this one might be a winter birthday card not a Christmas card. I popped up the whole panel on some foam and added it to a natural white card base.
Supplies
Stamps: berry bramble
Inks: festive berries distress ink, versamark
Distress markers: barn door, chipped sapphire, aged mahogany, ground espresso
Distress stain: stormy sky
Hot pressed watercolour paper
Also: Tonic stamping platform, WOW clear gloss superfine embossing powder, salt
Berry speckled Christmas
Posted: November 28, 2017 Filed under: Berry speckled | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks, Ranger Distress stains 11 Comments
I am happy to be sharing this card over on The Foiled Fox blog today. I used a combination of distress markers to colour the berry branches first then, once they were dry, I clear embossed over the top so they would resist the masking fluid I splattered and the sky I painted next. The process is described in detail over on the Foiled Fox blog so pop over and check it out.
This was definitely a project where a stamp positioner came in handy to do all the colouring first and embossing after.
Supplies
Stamps: berry speckled, sweetest moments
Inks: forest moss distress ink, versamark
Distress Markers: festive berries, frayed burlap, gathered twig, barn door, forest moss
Paper: Neenah solar white cardstock, hot pressed watercolour paper
Also: stamping platform, masking fluid, WOW clear gloss superfine embossing powder
Under the trees
Posted: November 13, 2017 Filed under: under the trees | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks, Ranger Distress stains, Tsukineko Versafine inks 5 Comments
So many of the stamps from the ‘Be Merry’ release are suitable for seasons other than winter and occasions other than Christmas. For this card I used the ‘under the trees’ stamp, masked out the little critters, snowflakes and gift and chose a warm colour scheme to make an autumn card. I stamped the ‘under the trees stamp in versafine vintage sepia ink. I cut a little post-it mask to protect the area where the critters and hanging snowflakes were as well as wiping ink off the circles in the sky so they wouldn’t stamp either. I left the stamp in the stamp positioning tool for re-stamping later. I began by paint a pale wash of tumbled glass distress stain over the whole piece of hot pressed watercolour paper keeping the edges darker than the centre. I added some forest moss, crushed olive, mustard seed, spiced marmalade painting around the trees and ground as well as painting some loose background trees into the damp panel.
I dried the panel before painting the wooden fence so the distress stains would not bleed out of the stamped image as in the background area. I used gathered twig and vintage photo distress stains to paint the fence then dried the panel again so I could restamp in the stamp positioner. By the time I had added all the blended colour the original stamped trees and bushes were less prominent so I inked them with a ground espresso marker and re-stamped and then painted over until they stood out once more.
To finish it off I stamped a sentiment from Penny Black’s ‘happy wishes’ set in fossilised amber distress ink then versafine vintage sepia several times over the top.
Supplies
Peaceful moments
Posted: September 25, 2017 Filed under: peaceful moment | Tags: Brusho, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains, Tsukineko Versafine inks 5 Comments
Sometimes when I am planning classes or just trying new stamps or techniques I end up with a pile of ‘experiments’ which were not what I had hoped for but were still worth saving. They often go into the ‘pile of possibility’ to be used later. From time to time the ‘pile’ gets so big I have to throw some experiments away because I know I will never actually choose to do anything with them. Today’s cards were made from panels stamped with the ‘peaceful moments’ stamp.
This thank you card was created by stamping the peaceful moments stamp over a brusho background. I sprinkled brusho on a craft mat, spritzed and swiped my watercolour paper through it. I matted and stamped the sentiment three times in a co-ordinating colour.
The order for the just because card was a little different because I needed the image stamped first before I could paint the background. I stamped in versafine onyx black ink then painted a ‘V’ of yellow, a strip of pale blue then topped that with a darker blue. Once that was dry I painted grey hills below the sky. I matted in yellow then embossed a sentiment on a thin strip of cardstock to wrap around the panel. For added texture I attached some branch die cuts to the card base.
I used the embossed offset technique (described here)to create the thinking of you card then painted hills in blueprint sketch distress stain across the background, some were diluted and blended others I kept an hard edge and strong colour.
I hope these few cards give you a few ideas for working with silhouette stamps.
Supplies
Stamps: peaceful moment, snippets
Dies: winter branch
Inks: versafine onyx black, versamark, danube blue memento ink (tsukineko) scattered straw, tumbled glass, weathered wood, black soot, blueprint sketch distress stains (ranger)
Paint: brusho
Paper: hot pressed watercolour paper
Also: white embossing powder, clear embossing powder
Season’s greetings
Posted: September 21, 2017 Filed under: Berry speckled | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress inks, Ranger Distress stains, Tsukineko Memento inks, WOW embossing powders 4 Comments
I have yet more snow on the blog today with this wintry berry branch over a snow dusted sentiment. The look is a little vintage again but with muted colours rather than lots of brown. I have some old Christmas cards of my mothers tucked away somewhere I should pull them out because this look reminds me of some of them.
I began with a splattering of masking fluid over a piece of hot pressed watercolour paper. Once dry, I positioned the panel in a stamp positioning tool and stamped the ‘tree & greeting stamp’ from ‘A Festive Season’ set in memento northern pine ink. I removed the panel from stamp positioner but left the stamp in place. In the top left corner I stuck a circle of frisket film to mask a moon shape then painted over the whole panel with water. Colour bled out of the northern pine ink and started filling the panel; I added faded jeans distress stain so I could cover the whole piece with diluted blue/green colour. Once the panel was dry I removed the mask and placed the panel back in the stamp positioner away from the ‘tree & greeting’ stamp so I could place the ‘berry speckled’ stamp to overlap some of the moon. I inked and stamped one colour at a time with the following markers: berries – candied apple distress marker, needles – northern pine memento marker, and branch & twigs – espresso truffle and rich cocoa memento markers.To soften the look of the branch I spritzed it and let some colour bleed into the surrounding area. When dry I added shadows on the berries with the bullet tip of the candied apple marker.
Supplies
Peaceful sunset
Posted: September 18, 2017 Filed under: peaceful moment | Tags: Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains, Tsukineko Versafine inks 11 Comments
I’ve employed one of my favourite techniques to create this wintry scene. I used the same technique for years to create a thin layer of snow on branches but it is so much easier now with stamp positioning tools like the misti.
If you take a close look you can see the branches have a thin white line above the black silhouette. I created that layer of snow by stamping the ‘peaceful moments’ stamp once in versamark ink (which is clear) then I move my watercolour paper panel up ever-so-slightly (no more than 1mm) and stamped it again in versafine onyx black. With the image stamped twice I then embossed in clear powder so both the clear and the black inking would resist watercolour paint when added over the top.
I painted the lowest part of the sky in a ‘V’ shape with scattered straw distress stain, blended in some worn lipstick distress stain then finally some tumbled glass and chipped sapphire stain. I let the sky dry completely before painting the mountains with a tumbled glass and chipped sapphire stains. Once that was dry I splattered a fine mist of white paint over the scene. As the stamp is tall and thin I decided to turn a horizontal sentiment into a vertical one by stamping one word at a time, another task made easier with a stamp positioning tool.
Supplies
Supplies
Stamps: peaceful moment, full of merriment (PB)
Paper: solar white cardstock (Neenah), hot pressed watercolour paper
Ink: versamark, versafine onyx black (Tsukineko)
Stains: scattered straw, worn lipstick, tumbled glass, chipped sapphire distress stains (Ranger)
Also: clear embossing powder, bleed proof white paint
Heather Telford 